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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. lean — to bend
  4. clip — to cut
  5. present — there
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. clip — for paper
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. clip — a video
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. present — the time now
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wake — a trail
  16. present — a gift
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. shower — rain
  19. wound — an injury
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. chair — a leader
  23. lean — thin
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com